In my school, every senior gets to do some kind of project "in creativity", whatever that means. Anyways, i was thinking of doing something with linux, like adding a few computers. What i was wondering was, what are some of the benefits of having linux, or like what kinds of things does linux specialize in? And i really don't want the stuff like: its really stable and generic stuff like that. I need specifics. Thanks

and, p.s, if you were wondering, the computer has to be able to be networked into novell netware, which i think is possible considering novell bought suse and all, and please, tell me if i'm wrong. And what would be the best distro to use. Oh, and we do get some funds, so thats not an issue. Thanks alot!

-rahmed

well you're going to get a few generics anyways
stable, configurable, FREE, relatively secure
specialize? it specilizes in being versatile
try fitting a modern windows onto a single floppy disk? you'd be laughed at for suggesting it! but look at coyote linux... a functional linux router on a single floppy, actually... look here http://bengross.com/smallunix.html
most distributions of linux come STANDARD with the following:
a set of compilers for c, c++, java, etc
a web server (apache)
an office suite (word processor, spreadsheet, etc..)
if you're not happy with the desktop environment, you can switch to a new one
as for novell netware? the kernel can be configured to suport the ipx/spx protocol used by older versions of netware, and i beleieve there is a netware client available for linux... although netware support isn't i believe a default
it's easeier to have only necessary services running on the machine to make it less vulnerable

Just to play devil's advocate -- It's also:

Completely foreign to windows users
Incredibly difficult for windows users to maintain (I assume these systems will stay in place after you're gone)
Unable to run (most) windows software without a huge amount of work
Severely lacking in the hardware support department (Just today I had an episode with the 2.6 USB subsystem that *really* made me wish I had a BSD or Windows machine...)

Linux is fine for gearheads and server farms, but I'm not sure it's ready for this kind of situation.

I'm sure all the fanboys will tell you how wrong I am though

sigsegv, thanks alot for the practical advice, i guess i'm going to have to think for a new project...